Microsoft: Windows Phone Devs Should Target Low-Memory Devices

December 29, 2014

By Developer.com Staff

Microsoft has released some interesting statistics about Windows Phone usage that should help shape app development for the platform. During November, the vast majority of Windows Phone apps were downloads by "low-memory" smartphones, that is Windows Phone 7 devices with 256MB RAM or less or Windows Phone 8 devices with 512MB RAM or less. "With 71% of downloads now coming from low-memory devices, you can more than double your potential market by optimizing your app to run on low memory devices," Microsoft advised in a blog post. "If that's not possible, consider creating a version with lower memory requirements to offer alongside your primary apps."

The company also suggested that mobile development firms may want to increase the prices they charge for in-app purchases. "While the majority of in-app purchases in the Windows Phone Store are at price points below $2.00, the top 3 highest grossing price points, ordered by total revenue, are $9.99, $4.99, and $19.99. In short, in-app pricing does not have to be low to be profitable," Microsoft added.